Australia - Jason Kester

back down the coast

Jason Kester — Sat, 02 Dec 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Not too much to report since I last wrote. I managed to cram quite a bit of surfing into my last week here, and even got a couple dives in too.

I spent a few nights in Byron Bay on the way back down the coast. It's a pretty cool town with a great beach. They have this funky hostel there that attracts an eclectic subset of the backpacker community. This place has free digeridoo lessons, fire dancing and some really strange accomodations. I slept in a teepee.

Anyway, I'm back in Sydney now, trying to come up with a day's worth of tourism to keep me busy until I fly out tonight. I'm not sure how often I'll be able to check my mail in Thailand, so you all may get a bit of a break from my lame trip reports for a while.

The Reef

Jason Kester — Thu, 23 Nov 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Hey all. I just got back from three days of diving on the great barrier reef. That, combined with a couple days in the pool & some classwork is
enough to get a fella certified down here.

It's a pretty cool operation. Much different than in the states, where there would be dozens of waivers and big warning signs and absolutely no alcohol on the boat. Here, the only piece of advice was "figure out how much alcohol you think you'll need, then double it." Australia rules!

As to the actual diving, it was great. I did an advanced course on the boat that added a 30m deep dive and a night dive, along with some additional skills. The night dive was really cool. There were dozens of meter long travellies following along at your shoulder. Whenever you'd spot a fish with your dive light, they'd flash past and grab it. It was so much fun that I just spent the rest of the dive spotlighting food for them.

The reef is pretty cool. Lots of big fish, sea turtles, rays and such. I even came up against a 5 foot reef shark.

Anyway, this internet connection has some serious issues, so I'd better get this off while I can. I'm off for Thailand in a week, so the next message you get will likely be from there.

Re: Photos from the road

Jason Kester — Sat, 18 Nov 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Fraser island is maybe 500k North of Brisbane, next to the town of Hervey Bay. It's tall & skinny, you can't miss it.

I'm in Airlie Beach right now. It's a bit southeast of Townsville, and it's the point where the barrier reef is closest to shore. I'll be in the pool for the next couple days, then living on and diving from a boat out at the reef. Pretty cool!

Fraser Island

Jason Kester — Fri, 17 Nov 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Fraser Squad

So I'm in the town of Hervey Bay at the moment, having just returned from a few days on Fraser island. We were pretty much going to give the place a miss, but everybody we ran into kept insisting that we absolutely had to go. They were right.

Basically, you fork over some money and they pile you together into a group of nine strangers and hand you the keys to a big ol' Toyota Landcruiser. Then they toss in about sixty pounds of steak, 30 gallons of beer, and a couple beat up tents. The rest is up to you, and the ferry leaves in an hour.

Fraser is really cool. It's just a giant pile of sand, with a rainforest covering most of it. It has some amazing lakes with white sand bottoms and
incredibly clear, pure water. So pure in fact that you can drink it.

Apart from the beach (which is actually designated as an Australian highway), there are no roads, just a series of rough tracks through the jungle.
Now when I say rough, I dont mean just rough, but rough enough that they manage to consistantly bog vehicles designed specifically to never bog down in sand. Loads of fun! Even better with eight nervous passengers screaming in the back.

In short, the best time I've had in Australia thus far. Good times, good company, beautiful place. It's all good.

still alive

Jason Kester — Sun, 12 Nov 2000 00:00:00 GMT

I'm up in Noosa Heads now. It's plenty hot, and the water is warm with perfect waves. No more rashguard. I'm just surfing in a pair of shorts now. That was half the goal for the trip, so now I've just got to make it up to Arlie Beach and get certified to dive. That may be the next stop, or we may spend a few days on Fraser island along the way.

Re: Sharks

Jason Kester — Wed, 08 Nov 2000 00:00:00 GMT

--- Diane Kester wrote:
> Yesterday on the news they said that two surfers had been attacked by sharks
> in Australia. Then they said it happened in Perth. A quick check verified
> that that's the other side of the continent from Surfer's Paradise.
> ...

Yeah, it's good to hear that the sharks are keeping to their side of the country. We had a strange experience today though. We checked out this semi-crowded break just south of town & decided to go rent a longer board for the small surf. In the twenty minutes it took to find a surf shop and come back, the whole beach had emptied. Nobody was in the water (there were maybe 30 surfers and a crowd of swimmers) and there was a big no swimming sign. I have no idea what happened, but can only assume that somebody saw a shark. Spooky!

Anyway, the good news is that we went a few miles further down & found some great waves. Best of all, no wetsuit! Just trunks and a thin spandex shirt callled a rashguard. Things are definately looking up.

Oi!

Jason Kester — Tue, 07 Nov 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Made it out of Thailand, and I'm now kicking it safely in the tourist trap of Surfer's Paradise. I spent a couple nights in Sydney, driving on the
wrong side of the road and working the jetlag out of the system.

Along the way up the coast I bought the most beat up shortboard I could find. I've only had it in the water once, and got thoroughly worked as a
reward. It's cool not having to wear ten pounds of neoprene to avoid hypothermia, but I sure don't float to the surface as quickly without it.

And for the record, the toilets do indeed flush in the other direction, and the moon is oriented entirely the wrong way. All in all, good times are
being had.

Re: Overseas

Jason Kester — Thu, 02 Nov 2000 00:00:00 GMT

--- Michael Garner wrote:
> I'm glad to hear that you arrived in Asia unscathed and got a full belly of
> curried rodent as well. Two cancled flight is par for the course in these
> days of overseas travels. Did they manage to loose your luggage as well? ...

I opted out of the luggage equation this time around. I've crammed three months provisions into a little carryon pack. It's cool because I never have to think about what I'm going to wear. Let's see... I've got one pair of shorts and a shirt. I guess I'll wear that!

So yeah, the austrialia leg is all about the jellyfish, with not much in the way of tall rocks to be found. I have the shoes along just in case, but for
the most part I'll be surfing.

Overseas

Jason Kester — Thu, 02 Nov 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Just a quick note to let you know I made it as far as Bangkok unscathed. Only took 23 hours, two canceled flights and a bonus stop in Seattle.

Bangkok is full on strange. It's nothing but street markets and back alleys and littls stalls selling vats of curried squirell. If you've seen that leonardo dicaprio beach movie, and you probably should if only for the first half, you'll be happy to know that the Bangkok scenes are not embellished whatsoever. In fact, I'm convinced that they shot part of it in my room.

Anyway, assuming I'm not knifed to death by pirates tonight, I'll be flying to Sydney tomorrow evening. I think I enjoy third world cities best in small doses.

Overseas

Jason Kester — Thu, 02 Nov 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Just a quick note to let you know I made it as far as Bangkok unscathed. Only took 23 hours, two canceled flights and a bonus stop in Seattle.

Bangkok is full on strange. It's nothing but street markets and back alleys and littls stalls selling vats of curried squirell. If you've seen
that leonardo dicaprio beach movie, and you probably should if only for the first half, you'll be happy to know that the Bangkok scenes are not
embellished whatsoever. In fact, I'm convinced that they shot part of it in my room.

Anyway, assuming I'm not knifed to death by pirates tonight, I'll be flying to Sydney tomorrow evening. I think I enjoy the third world best in small
doses.

Australia and Thailand

Jason Kester — Wed, 25 Oct 2000 00:00:00 GMT

So you are all officially in the loop to receive random emails from me as I tour about in Australia and SE Asia over the next few months. I doubt
I'll be able to get onto the internet all that often, but if I ever do, you'll all get to be amazed and delighted by every mundane detail of my trip. You'll also be first to hear when I am macheted to death in the burmese jungle by angry villagers.

If you want off this list, speak up quick because I'm heading out within the week. See ya!

Jason

Bailing from trailworks

Jason Kester — Wed, 25 Oct 2000 00:00:00 GMT

Friday will be my last day here. I'm skipping the country for a few months in search of rocks and waves.

Along the way I'll be able to check this address a few times:
radboy2@yahoo.com

See you in February!

Jason